The present invention relates to the field of intake systems for air or gaseous mixtures into heat engines, and has for its object an intake manifold or distributor with several pipes, more simple to produce than present manifolds or distributors which have a construction of the same level of complexity.
At present, to produce intake manifolds or distributors with a complex internal structure, and particularly those including pipes or portions of pipes partially surrounding the chamber or plenum to save space, one generally proceeds by assembling two constituent portions with simpler structures assembled together by welding for example, particularly in the case of manifolds or distributors of thermoplastic material.
However, in most cases, even the production of the simpler constituent portions by molding can be delicate and require the use of complicated molds and molding processes, giving rise moreover to difficulty as to the shape of the two constituent portions which can lead to less than optimal solutions of the configurations of the joint planes, in terms of resistance to assembly and fluid tightness.
It is thus been proposed to subdivide the manifold or distributor into two portions (3 or 4) and to assemble them successively with each other to constitute said manifold or distributor. However, this latter in this case has, because of the numerous weld lines, a non-homogeneous structure and is subject to higher risks of failure of the seal, the assembly process being moreover also more difficult.
The present invention has particularly for its object to overcome the mentioned drawbacks and to provide a structure of a manifold or distributor formed if possible solely from two principal constituent portions to be assembled, said constituent portions having a structure and constitution relatively simple and easy to obtain by molding, particularly by injection molding.
To this end, it has for its object an intake manifold or distributor, particularly of thermoplastic material, obtained by the assembly of at least two preformed constituent portions and comprising several intake pipes formed with said manifold or distributor, characterized in that each intake pipe is at least partially and preferably totally constituted by the coaction of at least one portion of the wall of at least one of the constituent portions, with a structural insert, mounted in one of said portions before their mutual assembly, held in position between them after their assembly, and forming at least one portion of the wall of the pipe in question.